Pile-cutting mechanism



A. F. MCCOLLUM.

FILE CUTTING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3. |917.

1,829,251 f Patented Jan. 27, 1920.

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` V w Q@ H" .in IQ fwmm- A. F. McCGLLUIVI. PILE CUTTING MECHANISM. APPucATloN FILED ocr. 3, |917.

A. F. MCCLLUM. PILE cumNG MEcHAmsM. APPLICATION FILED 06T. 3 19H. 1,329,251 Patented Jan. 27,1920.

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ALFRED F. MCCOLLUM, 0F BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE MAGEE CARPET CO., 0I1 BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYL- VANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

PILE-CUTTING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 27, 1920.

Application led October 3, 1917. `Serial No. 194,611.

To all whom t mayconcem:

Be it known that I, ALFRED F. -l\/ICCOLLUM, a citizen of the United States, residing in Bloomsburg', Columbia county, State of Pennsylvania, have invented Pile-Cutting Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for use in looms of the general type described and claimed in my Patent #1,161,710, dated Nov. 23, 1915, and more particularly has to do with improvements in the pile cutting knife, the parts immediately associated therewith, and the knife carriage.

One object of the invention is to provide a form of pile cutting knife which shall be capable of operating for considerably longer periods without being sharpened, than has hitherto been possible in pile cutting apparatus of the same general class ;-the invention contemplating a novel form of rotary cutter, having a plurality of cutting edges or blades arranged and shaped in a novel manner.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for intermittently turning the multiblade cutter and in retaining it in a given position While it is acting.

I also desire to provide means for taking up lost motion in a vertical direction between the knife carriage and the bar on which it i operates, together with a relatively simple,

substantial and inexpensive form of brake or retarding device for preventing drifting as well as excessive or violent movement of the carriage.

These objects and other advantageous ends I secure as hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a side elevation and a plan of the knife carriage and its supporting bar to which my invention is applied;

Figs. 3 and 4 are side elevations similar to Fig. l, from the first of which the cutter is omitted and from the second of which certain of the pawl and ratchet mechanism are omitted,

Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical sections' taken respectively on the lines 5 5 and 6 6, Fig. 3, with the rotary cutter in place;

Fig. 7 is an elevation of that side of the knife carriage opposite that shown in Fig, l;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 but partly in section, with the cable clamping plate removed; and

Figs. 9 to 13 inclusive are perspective views of various parts of the knife carrier.

In the above drawings l represents the horizontally elongated bar extending transversely of the loom on which is slidably mounted a knife carriage 2. This latter is preferably made of an elongated channel or L-shaped form (Figs. 5 and 6) with its bottom portion extending under the supporting bar l and its side members projecting vertically in sliding engagement with said bar.

T he carriage structure is held in place as above described by two longitudinally extending gibs or plates 3 fastened to its inner adjacent faces above the barl by stud bolts 4 which pass through vertically elongated slots in the sides of the carriage and are threaded into said gibs 3. It is therefore possible to take up any lost motion between the bottom portion of the carriage and the underside of the bar l by slacking off said bolts 1l and moving them with the gibs 3 downwardly so that the latter engage the top surface of the bar 1, when said bolts may be tightened to maintain the plates permanently in the given positions.

One side of the carriage structure 2 is preferably formed with an elongated slot or opening for the reception of a plate 5 of friction producing material such as parchmentized fiber which is mounted in the undercut inner face of said side so as to engage the adjacent side of the bar 1. A flat relatively stiff spring plate 6 is extended across the outer face of the opening in which the plate 5 is mounted and the ends of said plate are rigidly fastened to the carriage frame by screws 7 which with it are preferably countersunk or depressed below the plane of the outer face of the carriage.

A pressure screw 8 is threaded through the center of the spring 6 into engagement with the outer face of the friction plate 5 and is held in any adjusted position by jam nuts 9 and l0 which tightly clamp the opposite faces of said springz-the plate 5 being of relatively soft yet stiff material and preferably having a metallic insert in the form of a rivet 11 so placed as to be engaged by the screw 8.

A clamping plate 12 (Figs. 5, 6 and 7) is mounted on this rear side et the carriage and is designed to grip the rope or cable ects into this groove and is clamped against the adjacent side of the carriage.

The opposite or front side ot the carriage has two tubular horizontally projecting studs 16 on which is slidably mounted a knife carrier 17 with its associated elements ;-the studs having at their outer ends spring latches 18 whereby the carrier is norm ally held in place and being` provided with coil springs 19 between said carrier and the adjacent side of the carriage. Said spring latches as shown each consists of a length of' spring wire having parallel end portions fixed in the stud and including a loop normally projecting through slot in the end of the stud so as to act as stop, rilie carrier preferably consists of an elongated block or body (F 11) on whose flat top is mounted a cover plate 17, upwardly bowed for the greater part of its length and engaged by one end or' a coil spl in?v 2O whose opposite end is connected to a screw 21 in the adjacent side of the ca 1i iVit-h this arrangement said spring); coperates with the two sprin 19 to cause the carrier to normally remain at about the middle of its possible range of movement on the studs 16 between the side of the carriage and the heads or ends of the latches 1S, while being free to yieldingly move in either direction for a limited distance.

The front side of 'rnc carrier at substantially its middle part is provided Vith a vertically extending undercut guideway F22 for the reception of a vertically reciprocable slide 23 formed with one of its top corners cut away to provide an inclined face 2l and has rotatably mounted on a horizontally projecting stud or spindle 26 a ratchet wheel 25. rThis ratchet wheel has removably connected to it a flat substantially circular mu tiblade cutter 27. The central portion of the top of the block is cut away and the tops of its two end portions are longitudinally slotted to provide guideways 2S for the end ez;- tensions 29 of a cam plate 30 which is free to slide in them.

it the ends of the bar 1 are nounted abut- 1 ment structures 81 and 3:1, providing surfaces perpendicular to the line of the cam plate extensions 29 which are of such length that one or the other of them normally projects beyond one of the end faces of the carrier while the other is flush with the second end face. As a result, when the latter is moved toward and before it strikes, that one of the abutments toward which the extension projects, the latter engages said abutment and causes the plate 30 to move longitudinally of the carrier body. Said plate is formed with a corner of one of its ends inclined or beveled as indicated at 36 to form a cam so that when this movement occurs. said face acts on the inclined face of the slide Q3, causing the latter to move downwardly in its guideway 22. rl`he slide is at all times pressed upwardly by a spring 37 mounted on the front side of the carrier body, so that whenever it is free of the plate' 30, said spring moves it to the upper end of its path of' movement.

T he engagement of one of the projecting ends 29 of the plate 30 with its abutment, in forcing` said slide to move longitudinally of the carrier, causes the other one of its eX- tensiens 29 to be in turn projected beyond the opposite end of sai-d carrier, so that when the direction of movement of the latter reversed it is in position to engage the other one of the abutments 31 or 32.

it will be noted lat the rotation of the ratchet wheel 25 and therefore of the cutter 2i' in one direction, is prevented by a springpressed pawl 33, mounted on a plate-like ensicn 3a, fixed to or integral with the Lide Q3, and in addition l provide a second ning-pressed pawl 35, fixed to the side of ne carrier 17 which is so placed that while sliles over said ratchet without acting ien the latter is moved downward, it en- ,ges one of the ratchet teeth as the slide moves upwardly and causes it to turn on s spindle Q6.

rEhe cutter 27, while of generally circular form and made of relatively thin sheet steel, is formed with a series of 'ii-shaped notches which define teeth-like cutters 38. By reason of the location and shape of these recesses, each of said teeth has a short and a long side and the outer curved end constituting the short side or' each tooth is sharpened to provide cutting edge. Each tooth therefore has an advancing cutting edge baekwardly and upwardly inclined at an acute angle to the line cf its outer or curved edge and the latter is notched at 39 to cooperate with al fixed tooth i0, projecting from the cover plate 19 so as to hold the cutter from movement after it with the slide Q3 has been moved to its uppermost position.

it be assumed that the varioiis parts are in the positions shown in Figs. 1 to Ll inclusive, with the cutter raised, and that by means of the cable lll, the knife carriage is moved in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, then when the left hand extension 29 of the plate 30 strikes the abutment 31, the inclined face 36 of said plate acts on the correspondingly inclined face 24 of the slide 23, first forcing said slide with the cutter down and then riding over the flat upper edge 41 of said slide, finally coming to rest with its second end 29 projecting beyond the right hand side of the carrier.

When in this lowered position, the lowest of the cutting blades 38 of the knife extends into the U-shaped groove of that one of the pile wires of the loom from which pile is to be cut, and as the carriage is moved tofthe right in a direction opposite to that of the arrow, (Fig. 1), the inclined sharpened edge of this knife cuts cleanly and with a drawing action through said pile and at the same time, the sharpened bottom edge or end of the blade cuts any fibers which may be so depressed in the channel of the pile wire as to be missed by the inclined edge 42.

Obviously any rotative force resulting from the cutting action, while tending to turn the cutter and the ratchet wheel 25 on their supporting spindle, is resisted by the pawl 33, and finally when the knife carriage approaches the eXtreme right hand end of its path of movement, the extension 29 of the plate 30 strikes the abutment 32, it being noted that during the movement of the carriage from left to right, the plate 30 is held from movement by a flat spring 43 held to the carrier body by the screws which retain one end of the plate 19 in place, the toothed or projecting end` of said spring projecting into a transverse groove 44 of said plate. `When now the second end 29 of said plate 30 strikes the abutment 32, said plate is caused to slide in its guideway in the carrier from right to left, thereby allowing the slide 23 to move up said guideway under the action of the spring 37. In so doing, however, the ratchet wheel Q5 by reason of its engagement by the pawl 35, turns the cutter through a sixth of a revolution, bringing the next adjacent left hand blade into operative position and the slide finally comes to rest with the holding tooth 40 in the notch 39 of that tooth of the knife opposite the one in operative position.

This movement of the plate 30 causes its left hand extension 29 to be projected into the position shown in Fig. 1, so that when the knife carriage again moves in the direction of the arrow, the knife passes above the pile wire and the fabric thereon. At the left hand of the bar 1 the projecting end 29 of the plate 30 is again engaged by the abutment 31, with the result that the plate 30 forces down the slide 23 with the knife 27 into the lower or operative position as hitherto described. Each projecting blade of the rotary knife is thus used but once for every six cuts made by the apparatus, so that obviously the machine will operate practically six times longer without requiring sharpening of the cutter than will one having but a single edge knife. The work done by the multiblade knife is of a better grade than that hitherto produced for it is possible to weave practically six times more carpet than would ordinarily be woven before the dullness of the blades begins to have a noticeable or objectionable effect on the quality of the work. Again, with the particular construction of cutter employed it is a relatively quick operation to replace a dull by a sharp cutter, since it is merely necessary to remove the screws 45 in order to free said cutter from the ratchet wheel 25 to which it is attached.

The peculiar mounting and construct-ion of the braking plate 5 and its coperating parts permits the friction between the knife carriage and its supporting bar 1 to be determined with the utmost nicety, and as a result sidewise lost motion may be taken up and practically eliminated, as may also the tendency of the carriage to drift or rebound after striking either of the abutments. In Case it is advisable to increase the friction between the plate 5 and the bar 1, the outer one of the jam nuts 9 is backed olf, the screw 8 is turned to increase the pressure upon the rivet or bearing plate 11, after which the inner jam nut 10 is set up until it again clamps the spring 6.

It is particularly to be noted that the reliability and certainty of operation of my invention is insured especially by the holding tooth 40, since under operating conditions, in case the force applied to turn the ratchet Q5 through the distance between two of its adjacent teeth should be in excess of that required, said tooth acts as a brake and insures said ratchet being stopped with its attached multi-blade cutter at precisely the points required for proper operation.

I claim:

1. The combination in pile cutting mechanism of a carrier; a rotary multiblade knife thereon; a ratchet connected to said knife; a pawl for the ratchet; and means for reciprocating the cutter with the ratchet to bring the latter intermittently into engagement with the pawl to cause rotation of the knife.

2. The combination in pile cutting mechanism of a carrier; a slide guided thereon; means for reciprocating the slide; a rotary cutter carried by the slide; a ratchet connected to the cutter; with a pawl on the carrier placed to engage and turn the ratchet and the cutter when the slide is moved upwardly.

3. The combination in pile cutting mechanism of a carrier; a slide guided thereon; cam mechanism for moving said slide in one direction; a spring for moving the slide in the opposite direction; a rotary cutter carried by the slide; a ratchet connected to' the cutter; and a pawl on the carrier placed to engage and turn the ratchet with the cutter when the slide is moved by the spring.

4. The combination in pile cutting mechanism of a carrier; a slide reciprocable thereon; means for actuating the slide; a multiblade rotary cutter mounted on the slide; a ratchet connected to said cutter; and two pawls mounted respectively on the slide and on the carrier in positions to cooperate with the ratchet7 the first of said pawls being` positioned to prevent rotation of the ratchet and cutter in one direction and the other engaging said ratchet to cause rotation thereof when said slide is moved in one direction.

5. rlhe combination in-pile cutting mechanism of a carrier; a slide reciprocablc thereon; a rotary multiblade cutter mounted on the slide; a ratchet connected to said cutter; a fixed tooth on the carrier placed to engage and hold the cutter from rotation when the slide is at one end of its path of movement; a pawl engaging the ratchet when the cutter is at the opposite end of its path of movement; and means for intermittently turning the cutter to successively bring its blades into operative positions.

6. rlfhe combination in pile cutting mechanism of a carrier; a knife rotatably mounted thereon and including a plurality of cutting blades each presenting a backwardly and upwardly inclined cutting edge to the material operated on; and means for inter'- mittently rotating said cutter to bring said blades successively into an operative position.

7. The combination in pile cutting mechanism of a carrier; with a knife rotatably mounted thereon and including a plurality of blades each presenting a backwardly and upwardly inclined cutting edge and each also provided with an'end cutting edge.

8. T he combination in pile cutting mechanism of a carrier; a knife rotatably mounted thereon and including a plurality of cutting blades each having two sharpened edges at an acute angle to each other; with means for intermittently turning said knife to successively bring its blades into operative positions.

9. The combination in pile cutting mechanism of a supporting bar; a knife carriage reciprocable thereon and provided with an opening; a pile cutting knife on said carriage; a friction plate mounted in said opening of the carriage in position to engage the bar; a spring extending across said opening; with a member supported by the spring and operative on the friction plate.

l0. The combination in pile cutting mechanism of a supporting bar; a knife carriage reciprocable thereon and provided with anV opening; a pile cutting knife on said carriage; a friction plate mounted in said opening of the carriage in position to engage the bar; a spring extending across said opening; and a screw extending through said spring into engagement with said friction plate.

ll. The combination in pile cutting mechanism of a supporting bar; a knife carriage of substantially U-shaped section; at least one gib operative on one surface of the bar between the sides of the carriage; and at least one bolt passing through an elongated opening in the carriage and clamping the gib to said carriage.

In witness whereof l affix my signature.

ALFRED r. MCooLLUM. 

